Private Clouds are increasingly important to the efficient operations of your business. The System Center 2012 products provide everything you need to build, secure, maintain and manage your Private Cloud. You can get all of the latest Betas, Release Candidates and Evaluations by clicking one button!
A few weeks ago, I made a post on using Oracle VirtualBox to run Windows 8 in a Virtual machine on a Mac laptop. This is a great scenario for easily virtualizing a Windows 8 development environment or just because you want to have Windows 8 on your Mac.
For this post, we are going to show four things -
Main Document: How to use BootCamp to run Windows 8 natively on the Mac hardware. This has the added benefit of giving Windows 8 access to all hardware resources without any virtualization layer. This should provide the best hardware compatibility and accessibility you can find. Plus you keep your Mac OS install for dual-boot. Appendix A: Installing and Configuring Windows 8 Appendix B: Installing the developer Tools and SDK Appendix C: Getting Started with Visual Studio 2012
Main Document: How to use BootCamp to run Windows 8 natively on the Mac hardware. This has the added benefit of giving Windows 8 access to all hardware resources without any virtualization layer. This should provide the best hardware compatibility and accessibility you can find. Plus you keep your Mac OS install for dual-boot.
Appendix A: Installing and Configuring Windows 8
Appendix B: Installing the developer Tools and SDK
Appendix C: Getting Started with Visual Studio 2012
If you are unfamiliar with installing Boot Camp on the Mac, there are several YouTube videos available (like this one watch this YouTube video), as well as many additional resources online. You can also check this Boot Camp resource here http://www.apple.com/support/bootcamp/
These instructions below is a compressed set of steps to get up started with Windows 8 on Boot Camp.
1. Create a bootable Windows 8 DVD from a Windows 8 ISO.
You will need to download or acquire Windows 8. You can download a free 90 days evaluation version of Windows 8 from the Evaluation Center. Please note that this version will expire and is not upgradeable.
You can also elect to purchase a fully licensed upgrade Windows 8 at retail. If you or your company happen to be MSDN subscribers, you can get the RTM version of Windows 8 from the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page.
To learn how to create a Windows 8 Bootable DVD check these Bing results.
2. Run Finder.
3. Navigate to Application | Utilities and Run Boot Camp Assistant.
Get latest Boot Camp here http://support.apple.com/downloads/#bootcamp
4. Follow the Wizard Instructions.
5. On Select Tasks select both options.
Windows 8 is officially not supported by Boot Camp. Proceed with the installation.
6. Select where to save the Windows Support Software.
USB drive recommended. You will need to install this software after Windows installs and is running.
7. Login with your OSX User and Password.
8. Create partition for Windows. Although 20 GB is enough space to install Windows 8, it is highly recommended that you allocate at least 30 GB (or more) if you plan to install other programs such as Visual Studio Express for Windows 8. If you will also be installing Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone, then allocate at least 40 GB.
Move the slider to change the drive size to the recommended 40 GB
9. The partitioning process will start.
This process will take a few minutes.
10. Install Windows 8.
See Appendix A: Installing and configuring Windows 8
11. Install Windows Support Software.
12. Select I accept the terms in the license agreement, and then click Next.
13. Ensure Apple Software Update For Windows is selected, and then click Install.
14. Install Windows Support Software.
From within Windows 8, open the location where you saved the Windows Support Software and run setup.exe. This process will install all pertinent Windows 8 drivers to work properly within Windows 8. This process will take a few minutes to complete and your screen may flicker.
15. Once installation is complete, click Finish and then Yes to the reboot prompt.
16. Install Visual Studio 2012 tools.
See Appendix B: Installing the developer tools and SDK
17. Getting Started with Visual Studio Resources.
See Appendix C: Getting Started with Visual Studio
18. To boot to Mac OS, from Start page type control panel, double-click Control Panel from the search results and then double-click Boot Camp. Select Macintosh HD and then click Restart.
Make sure to insert the Windows 8 DVD to continue.
1. Select Language, Time, and Keyboard.
2. Click on Install to begin the installation process.
3. Accept license terms.
4. Select Custom: Install Windows only (Advanced).
5. Select the disk to install Windows onto. This should be the one that has BOOTCAMP in the name.
6. Click Drive options (Advanced) and then click New and then Format. When format is complete, click Next.
7. File copying begins…
When finished the process will restart Windows for further configuration
8. Select desired color or use default.
9. Use express settings
10. Select Sign in without a Microsoft Account. This will require a Local Account.
11. Click on Local account.
12. Specify required account data.
13. Windows will finish configuring settings and be ready to use.
14. Welcome to Windows 8 Start page. You can now proceed to Appendix B: Installing the developer tools and SDK.
Appendix B: Installing the Developer Tools and SDK
Once Windows 8 is running, you will need to acquire and install Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 and / or Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Phone. Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows 8 provides the core tools needed to build Windows Store apps. Microsoft Visual Studio Express 2012 for Windows Phone provides the core tools and SDK needed to build Windows Phone Store apps. After installation, you can try this product for up to 30 days. You must register to obtain a free product key for ongoing use after 30 days. You can acquire it in your language of choice from this page http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads.
The following are instructions to install Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8.
1. Download the Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows 8.
2. Run setup to start installation.
3. Accept License Terms and press INSTALL.
4. Installation process will begin. This may take a few minutes.
5. After setup is complete successfully, you can press LAUNCH to start Visual Studio.
6. Click Register online to get a Product key. This requires a Microsoft Account. Copy and paste on this form.
Product key shown not real.
7. Visual Studio will start loading. This may take a few minutes.
8. If you get a message reading Renew developer license. Press I agree to continue and sign in with your Microsoft Account. Click Yes to User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
9. Welcome to Visual Studio 2012. Click FILE | NEW to create your first Windows 8 project.
The following are instructions to install Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone.
1. Download the Visual Studio 2012 Express for Windows Phone.
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads
2. Mount the ISO (wpsdkv80_enu.iso) and double-click WPexpress_full.exe to begin installation. Click Yes to User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
5. Click Restart Now.
6. After setup is complete, you can press LAUNCH to start Visual Studio.
7. Click Register online to get a Product key. This requires a Microsoft Account. Copy and paste the key onto this form and then click Next. Click Yes to User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
8. Visual Studio will start loading. This may take a few minutes.
9. If you get a message asking to Renew developer license, click I Agree to continue and sign in with your Microsoft Account. Click Yes to User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
10. Welcome to Visual Studio 2012. Click FILE | New Project to create your first Windows Phone project.
11. Name your new project, select the type (i.e. Windows Phone App) and click Next.
12. Select your target Windows Phone OS version from drop-down list and click OK. The new project will be created.
13. To test your app in the emulator, click the green play button for Emulator or hit F5.
14. The emulator will load. The Start screen will appear and then the App will load. This may take a few minutes.
Appendix C: Getting started with Visual Studio 2012
· Download Visual Studio 2012 (http://bit.ly/OI0mVa)
· Documentation
o Application Development in Visual Studio o Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server o Getting started with Blend for Visual Studio o Blend for Visual Studio (Dev Center - Windows Store apps) o Designing for Windows Phone (Expression Blend 4) o .NET Framework 4.5
o Application Development in Visual Studio
o Application Lifecycle Management with Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server
o Getting started with Blend for Visual Studio
o Blend for Visual Studio (Dev Center - Windows Store apps)
o Designing for Windows Phone (Expression Blend 4)
o .NET Framework 4.5
· What's New in Visual Studio 2012 (http://bit.ly/WWm6OD)
· Code Samples (http://bit.ly/W3Es15)
· Windows 8 Camp in a Box (http://bit.ly/KlpHBp)
· Videos (http://bit.ly/ghsKc)
o Visual Studio 2012 o Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management Videos o What's new in .NET Framework 4.5
o Visual Studio 2012
o Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management Videos
o What's new in .NET Framework 4.5
· Forums (http://bit.ly/4ohLf)
· MSDN Developers Center
o MSDN Developer Centers o Windows Dev Center o Windows Store apps Dev Center
o MSDN Developer Centers
o Windows Dev Center
o Windows Store apps Dev Center
· Patterns & Practices
o Patterns & Practices Documentation o Patterns & Practices Developer Center
o Patterns & Practices Documentation
o Patterns & Practices Developer Center
-Cheers
This past week Brian Lewis has been working on building a student lab in Azure. The idea is that as students can work on a Windows Server labs with their own preconfigured lab and for free. The way to accomplish this is to have each student register for their own free 90 day Azure trial and then copy over the pre created virtual servers.
This is a great way to get hands on experience with Azure, while also creating a lab environment that is accessible for any many where you have an Internet connection!
Brian discusses Azure Storage, why passwords still suck, and how easy it is to put all of this together. Check out his blog post here -
Building Student Hands-On Labs in Azure for Free!
Cheers!
Yung Chou posted the next piece of our series last week. In this article, he explains the role-based security model and delegation of authority in SCVMM to facilitate the self-service model in place when logging in App Controller or SCVMM admin console. There are many opportunities throughout this article to reference and link to your content on SCVMM, App Controller, Virtualization, Azure, and deployment in general.
This article has a strong focus on self-service which is one of the stand-out features of the App Controller product.
You can find part 14 here -
System Center 2012 SP1 Explained: App Controller for VM and Cloud Service Deployment
-Cheers!
To employ App Controller as a self-service vehicle for migration and deployment, a user needs to connect App Controller with target datacenter resources first. Part 13 in our February series discusses how we can make the the connectivity between App Controller and Windows Azure, SCVMM and 3rd Party hosting services a non-issue. The two needed certificates can be overwhelming for those that are new to App Controller and SCVMM and this article explains the process and steps to get you through it. Young Chou is the author and you can check out his post here -
System Center 2012 SP1 Explained: App Controller as a Single Pane of Glass for Delegating Cloud Management, A Primer
In Part 12 of our February Series on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Upgrade and Migration, Tommy Patterson, gives a short summary of where Windows Azure comes into play and reconnects us with our series from January. Check out his blog post here -
Migration and Deployment Series Part 12: How Windows Azure Plays Into the Equation
Windows Azure. When most people hear this, they think of it as a platform for running web based and mobile applications. Up until now that has pretty much been the case. However, if you have not check out Windows Azure recently, then you have not seen some of the new additions like -
The ability to create virtual machines in Windows Azure. You can even create VM’s and import them into Azure! Powerful virtual networking features. This enables you to connect virtual machines with Azure as well as connect your on premise infrastructure to the VM’s you have running in the Azure cloud. Active Directory Access Controls – Provides an easy way to enable secure single sign-on and identity management to applications and services, while integrating with standards-based identity providers, including enterprise directories such as Active Directory, and web identities such as Windows Live ID, Google, Yahoo! And Facebook.
The ability to create virtual machines in Windows Azure. You can even create VM’s and import them into Azure!
Powerful virtual networking features. This enables you to connect virtual machines with Azure as well as connect your on premise infrastructure to the VM’s you have running in the Azure cloud.
Active Directory Access Controls – Provides an easy way to enable secure single sign-on and identity management to applications and services, while integrating with standards-based identity providers, including enterprise directories such as Active Directory, and web identities such as Windows Live ID, Google, Yahoo! And Facebook.
Harold Wong has written up a blog post as a part of our February Series going into more details about some of these new features as well as well as some other items. You can find his blog post here -
Migration and Deployment: Windows Azure as a PaaS
Hyper-V is making great strides with new features and improvements in Windows Server 2012. For those that are running Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008R2 (or even Windows Server 2008!), there is a lot to be gained from moving those VM’s to run in Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012.
For today’s installment of our 19 part series on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012, Tommy Patterson gives us Part 10 - Migrating Hyper-V Virtual Machines from Server 2008R2 to Server 2012. Tommy gives us a detailed account of how to move virtual machines on Win 2008 R2 Hyper-V over to Win 2012 Hyper-V. He also explains the supported in place upgrade options as well as some FAQ’s regarding the stand-alone Hyper-V Server products.
With Windows Server 2012, we introduced and update to the Server message Block protocol. In Server 2012 we are now up to SMB 3.0 and with that comes a number of features that enhance networking. One very exciting optimization is that now we can use the new SMB share features in the File Services Role to create an SMB share and place Hyper-V files in the share for use in production. In short, this allows us to use inexpensive JBOD discs attached to a Windows Server as shared storage and run our Hyper-V based virtual machines from that share. This can significantly reduce cost as well as speed up deployment of Hyper-V servers. This also provides for a fast way to get development and test environments online without waiting for the storage admins to configure arrays and LUNs.
My fellow IT Evangelsit, Bob Hunt has a blog pist up now as a part of our February Series on Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 Upgrade and Migration. In his post he goes into more detail about SMB Shares as well as other deployment considerations when leveraging the new SMB Feature updates.
You can checkout out his blog post here -
Windows Server 2012 SMB 3.0 Deployment Considerations (Part 9 of 19)
Download the FREE Cloud OS product evaluations and test your knowledge with trivia for a chance to win some excellent prizes—including a trip to the Microsoft Management Summit in Las Vegas. You also have a chance to win a Microsoft Surface, Windows 8, Windows Server, or a Linksys Router.
Download. Play. Win.
Test drive the free trials of our Cloud OS products for a chance to win a trip to the Microsoft Management Summit in April in Las Vegas! Answer three trivia questions correctly and you could instantly win a copy of Windows 8, Windows Server, a Microsoft Surface tablet, or a Cisco Router! Play the Microsoft Trivia Challenge. http://aka.ms/sxjnk1
We are super excited to announce the Windows 8 Student App Madness Challenge. Create and publish a Windows 8 app by April 11th, 2013 and you could win* a $100 gift card. Microsoft will provide you with all the software, resources and support you need to get started, build your app, and publish it to the Windows Store. This is a great opportunity for you to get some app building experience and make some money while doing it!
Code your way to the TRIP OF A LIFETIME!
It’s easy! Create and publish your app by April 11th. You could win* a $100 gift card. Additionally, you can participate in our top app builder contest. Build the most apps in a round to win** one of FOUR exciting trips! For more details, go to http://aka.ms/Win8appmadness.
Round 1: February 11-February 25
Round 2: February 26-March 12
Round 3: March 13-March 27
Round 4: March 28-April 11
Summary -
Over the years, Microsoft has released hundreds of tools to make working with Windows simpler and more efficient. When it comes to Migrating from an older version of Windows to a brand new version, these tools are invaluable for assessing the current environment and laying the groundwork for getting things up to date. A smooth transition is particularly important for our Windows Servers which run critical infrastructure components and business applications.
In Part 8 of our 19 part series for February, Matt Hester summarizes a collection of migration tools to make the move to Windows Server 2012 smooth and easy. The Server Migration Tools are a part of the Windows Server 2012 Media and matt will show you how to get them installed and registered for use. Look for more information on how to use the tools in an upgrade or a migration later in the series.
Good Day Folks!
I know I have a summary post listing all of the posts we make in the February series and I encourage you to bookmark it -
February Blog Series – Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
I am also going to start posting summaries of each post here along with a link to the original post. I just feel the information is that good to sit only in an all up summary post.
----------------
Blain Barton just posted the most recent entry into our series. in his post he looks at how to evaluate and upgrade your existing infrastructure from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012. while the information posted is specific to the version mentioned, there is a common theme here for upgrading from ANY version of Windows Server to another. It is great reading regardless of what version you are on now and what you are going to. If you are moving to Windows Server 2012, there is some great information on new features like Active Directory Domain Services updates, deprecated features, and what the supported upgrade paths are.
For more information, see his fill post here -
Part 7/19 - Part 7 of 19 – Migration and Deployment - Upgrade Implications for Active Directory - (Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012)
In January, the US IT Pro Technology Evangelists post a 31 Day Series on Azure IaaS. You can find that series here –
Blog Series: 31 Days of Azure IaaS – Servers in the Cloud
We received a lot of great feedback on the series so we came up with a new Migration and Deployment series for February. We decided to drop weekend posting (we like our weekends as much as you do!) so you will only see posts Mon-Fri for February. We also chose to break this series up into distinct coverage areas over the course of 4 weeks.
This is our schedule:
Please bookmark this post and checkback to find links to the rest of the posts in the series!
The first of the posts in the series comes from Harold Wong -
Part 1 – Migration and Deployment: Requirements for a fresh install of Windows 8
Part 2 – Migration and Deployment: Free Tools for Windows Deployment – and a Light Touch Deployment Demo
Part 3 - Migration and Deployment: 5 Steps to Deploying Windows 8 with System Center 2012 Service Pack 1
Part 4 - Migration and Deployment: How To Migrate or Transfer Files And Settings To Windows 8 From Windows 7, Vista or XP
Part 5 – (waiting for post)
Part 6 – Windows Server 2012: Requirements for a fresh Windows Server 2012 Installation
Part 7 - Migration and Deployment - Upgrade Implications for Active Directory - (Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012)
Part 8 - Migration and Deployment: Installing the Migration Tools
Part 9 – Migration and Deployment: Windows Server 2012 SMB 3.0 Deployment Considerations
Part 10 – Migrating Hyper-V Virtual Machines from Server 2008R2 to Server 2012
You're invited. Select a date below to register online or call 1-877-MSEVENT
If you are unable to attend in person, you may be interested in a Hands-on Lab Online (HOLO) on Windows 8 or Windows Azure.
If you cannot make one of these events, you may be able to find a similar event at a New Horizons learning center here.
Please join us at a Microsoft IT Camp as we dive into how to get your datacenter ready for the cloud and beyond Join us at a FREE Microsoft IT Camp for hands-on labs, demos, and interactive discussions with Microsoft technical experts. Here's your chance to learn more about getting your datacenter ready for the cloud, whether you want to upgrade your on-premise datacenter or get connected to the cloud. This IT Camp will showcase the next generation of datacenter technologies featuring Windows Server 2012, System Center 2012 SP1, and Windows Azure IaaS. According to a recent IDC report commissioned by Microsoft, an estimated 1.7 million cloud-related IT jobs are open worldwide right now and there will be as many as 7 million cloud computing jobs available by 2015. Attending an IT Camp in your local area is the perfect way to elevate your IT skills, build your cloud knowledge and propel your career to new heights.
To participate in the afternoon hands-on lab session, you will need to bring your own computer (laptop preferred) with the following minimum configuration:
FREE Events Seating is limited, so register today. Events run from 8:30am - 4:00pm.
For more information or to register, visit > www.technetevents.com OR CALL 1-877-MSEVENT
For this installment in the 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud, I want to spend some time introducing you to the Windows Azure Store and Windows Azure Add-Ons.
Much like we can do with our on-premise servers, be that physical or virtual, getting the server up and running is only the first part of the process. Usually the server is being built out for a reason – to become a mail server, store files and data for a department, or provide infrastructure services like DNS, DHCP and our long time friend WINS. But there are countless “add-ons” that have been developed over the years to provide additional features and functionality to those servers. We normally call these add-ons “applications” or “tools”. But ultimately, all of these applications and tools, modify or extend the functionality of the servers we install them to. The good ones actually add something useful on to the server. Things like shell enhancements, management tools, full blown services and just plain cool things to make working with the servers easier or even fun.
Windows Azure is no different.
We (Microsoft) recently announced the availability of some new add-ons that are now available through the Windows Azure Store. That’s right, Windows Azure has a store! The Windows Azure Store (let’s call it the WAS), lets you add features and services to your Azure cloud applications simply and easily. There are already a number of add-ons available through the store. let’s take a look!
Hopefully, you have spent some time getting to know Windows Azure. If not, you can sign up for a FREE 90 Day Trial to Windows Azure right now!
For those that have been playing with Windows Azure, you have probably seen the Add-Ons link in your Azure Management Portal -
Until recently though, there has been anything there to look at. Now when you click on the Add-Ons link, you have access to the WAS where you can “purchase” add-ons. I put purchase in quotes because many of the apps have free trial modes so you can check them out before committing to buy.
Once you get into the Store, you get a listing of the Add-ons available. Currently they are broken into two categories –
App Services - which provide a number of services like monitoring and analytics of your Azure based cloud apps, full MongoDB and MySQLDB implementations, and even email services.
…and Data – for parsing data from a variety of sources like address searches, text translation, and of course, the Bing Search API.
Adding the services is very easy. After clicking on the Add-Ons link in your Azure Management Portal, you will be presented with a list of currently enabled add-ons. in my case, I have not activated anything yet so I am being prompted to Purchase Add-Ons…
Next you will be presented a list of available Add-Ons. From here it is a simple 3-Step process to add and Add-On.
Step 1 – Choose the Add-On - I am going to add the Bing Search API…
Step 2 – Personalize your add-on – Depending on the add-on, you will have some basic information you can alter – The billing options and promotional codes (if any), the name you will use for the app in your Windows Azure instance, and the Region…
Step 3 – Review Purchase – This is a summary of options, definition of legal terms and/or EULA, and the purchase…
Now when you select your Add-Ons menu item, you see Windows Azure creating and enabling the add-on…
Once the status changes from Creating… to Started, you can select an add-on to make changes to its configuration. Most of the Add-Ons will have a Dashboard View where you can quickly look at current configurations, transaction data, and find links to support and other documentation….
In the case of the Bing Search API, there is also an API explorer that lets you look at what API resources are available for the Add-On….
This example is obviously a little more focused on developers. Which leads us to where to get more information if you are interested in developing an add-on yourself. You can download the Windows Azure Store SDK hosted on github.
If you are a Startup and you hurry (There is a Feb 3rd, 2013 Deadline!), you can Apply for the Azure 2013 Microsoft Accelerator for Windows Azure Program. This program is designed to incubate startups that are building apps in the cloud. There is an opportunity for equity investment, co-location space, access to mentors and technical support, and a chance to demo your results to investors.
Wrapping it up….
For now, the Windows Azure Store is only available in a limited number of regions (US, UK, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Spain, and South Korea). But you can expect that to change over the next few weeks and months.
For even more information on the Windows Azure Store and Windows Azure Add-Ons, see the following resources -
Scott Guthrie’s Blog – Windows Azure Store: New add-ons and expanded availability
//build/2012 – Windows Azure presentations
Find out more information about Windows Azure from the presentations delivered and the //build/2012 Conference.
Windows Azure Blog
The latest and greatest information and announcements about all this Windows Azure.
Windows Azure Events
Find and event in your area (or one you would like to travel to!) to get more information about Windows Azure.
Windows Azure Partners
Need a qualified Windows Azure vendor to help with a project? Or….Are you a Windows Azure expert? Want to become a partner? Join here!
Windows Azure Learning Resources
Are you an Educator? Student? Looking for get certified? Start here!
What the!!??!?!?
“Hey Chris! Aren’t you a Microsoft employee??? Why are you running a Mac and playing with Oracle stuff????”
Well folks, I am a Microsoft employee. And as a Microsoft employee, I want to see our products succeed in the marketplace. One way for that to happen is to get developers to write apps for the platform. There are a lot of great apps that exist on non-Windows platforms that I would love to see ported over to Windows. But not every Mac person has access to a Windows PC. Because virtualization makes it easy to run multiple operating systems on a single piece of hardware, I thought it would be a great idea to show how to get Windows 8 running on a Mac OS X machine. In fact, my co-worker Harold Wong and I spent a few days loading up some Mac machines with different virtualization platforms and testing out capabilities. Harold has a series of posts up already on using VMware Fusion to do the same thing.
One of the disappointing things I ran across with this solution was not being able to get hardware based virtualization to work within the virtual machine. What this means is that even though you can load up the Visual Studio tools after getting Windows 8 installed, the Windows 8 Phone Emulator doesn’t work because it requires the hardware virtualization components. So unfortunately this is not an ideal solution for Windows 8 Phone development.
Here we go!
Installing Windows 8 in VirtualBox
VirtualBox is very easy to install and use and is available as a free open source download from http://virtualbox.org. In this step-by-step guide we will walk you through the process of installing VirtualBox on OS X.
1. Have available to you a Windows 8 .ISO image or Windows 8 on DVD Media.
You will need to download or acquire Windows 8. You can download a free 90 day evaluation version of Windows 8 from the Evaluation Center. Please note that this version will expire and is not upgradeable.
You can also elect to purchase a fully licensed version of Windows 8 at retail. If you or your company happen to be MSDN subscribers, you can get the RTM version of Windows 8 from the MSDN Subscriber Downloads page.
2. Download VirtualBox from http://virtualbox.org/wiki/downloads and save to your desktop.
3. Run launch the VirtualBox-4.2.6-82870-OSX.dmg package
Double-click the VirtualBox.pkg to continue.
4. Click Continue if you receive this prompt ->
5. You will now see the VirtualBox Installer.
Click Continue.
6. The Standard installation should be fine for most.
Click Install.
7. Authenticate using your OS X account.
Click Install Software
8. Once the installation completes, click Close.
9. Launch VirtualBox from the Applications folder
Click New.
10. Provide a name for your virtual machine.
Type – Microsoft Windows
Version - Windows 8 (32 or 64bit depending on the .ISO image you will load from).
11. Select the Memory Size to allocate to the Windows 8 VM. (2GB is the minimum recommended)
12. Select “Create a virtual hard drive now”.
Click Create.
13. Select a virtual hard drive file type. The default VDI is sufficient.
14. Storage on physical drive - Set to Dynamically allocated (configures faster and conserves disk space).
15. File Location and Size - The Virtual Machine name you typed earlier can be changed here.
You can also set the size of the virtual hard drive. What you specify should be based upon the size of the applications and the amount of data your Windows development tools and projects you work with. ~50GB is a good starting point.
16. Now you need to connect your Windows 8 .ISO image to the virtual machine you created in so you can install Windows 8.
Click the Settings button (gear icon) at the top of the window.
17. Click Storage
18. Next to "Controller: IDE", click the "Add CD/DVD Device button" (small disc icon with a green + sign)
Click Choose disk
19. Locate the Windows 8 .ISO image you will be installing from.
Click Open
20. You should now see your Windows 8 .ISO image in the list of disks attached to Controller: IDE.
Click OK.
21. Start the virtual machine.
Click the Start button at the top of the windows (Green arrow).
22. Make note of the Host key. By default it is the Left Command key.
The Host key will release the mouse and keyboard from the virtual machine when you need to interact with your host machine desktop.
23. Windows Installation process will start... follow prompts.
For more info on installing the 90-Trial check this Windows 8 Enterprise Evaluation FAQ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/jj552442.
Hiya folks! You probably know that I am a Technology Evangelist (TE) on the US Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) team. What you may not know is that there are 12 of us in the United States that are a part of this team (I have linked each of them in the list on the right side of my blog). We have been working on a series of blog posts called “The 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud”. This is a series of posts about leveraging the new VM Role in windows Azure. You may also hear this referred to as Azure IaaS.
Thus far there have been 25 Posts made in the series covering a broad set of topics. There are topics ranging from a basic introduction to Azure IaaS and what it means to you to more specific topics like using PowerShell to create and manage VM’s in Azure. we are laying the groundwork in this series to get you up to speed on using Windows Azure IaaS as another tool for you to build and manage your infrastructure.
If you would like to learn more about Azure IaaS, I encourage you to sign up for a 90 Day Free Trial of Windows Azure!
I also recommend you book mark my blog post and check back each day as we add the final posts to the series! Here is what we have so far….
Part 1 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Windows Azure IaaS and You
Part 2 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Building Free Lab VMs in the Microsoft Cloud
Part 3 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Supported Virtual Machine Operating Systems in the Microsoft Cloud
Part 4 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Servers Talking in the Cloud
Part 5 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Move a local VM to the Cloud
Part 6 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Windows Azure Features Overview
Part 7 - 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Step-by-Step: Build a FREE SharePoint 2013 Lab in the Cloud with Windows Azure
Part 8 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Setting up Management (Certs and Ports)
Part 9 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud: Windows Azure and Virtual Networking….What it is
Part 10 – 31 Says of Servers in the Cloud - Windows Azure and Virtual Networking – Getting Started–Step–by-Step
Part 11 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Step-by-Step: Running FREE Linux Virtual Machines in the Cloud with Windows Azure
Part 12 – 31 Days of Servers in the cloud - Step-by-Step: Connecting System Center 2012 App Controller to Windows Azure
Part 13 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Creating Azure Virtual Machines with App Controller
Part 14 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – How to: Create an Azure VM using PowerShell
Part 15 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - What Does Windows Azure Cloud Computing REALLY Cost + How to SAVE
Part 16 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Consider This, Reasons for Using Windows Azure IaaS
Part 17 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Step-by-Step: Templating VMs in the Cloud with Windows Azure and PowerShell
Part 18 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – How to Delete VHD files in Azure
Part 19 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Create a Windows Azure Network Using PowerShell
Part 20 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Step-by-Step: Extending On-Premise Active Directory to the Cloud with Windows Azure
Part 21 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – Beyond IaaS for the IT Pro
Part 22 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Using your own SQL Server in Windows Azure
Part 23 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – Incorporating AD in Windows Azure
Part 24 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Connecting Windows Azure PaaS to IaaS
Part 25 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Using System Center 2012 SP1 to Store VM’s in Windows Azure
Part 26 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Monitoring and Troubleshooting on the Cheap (Meaning: Without System Center)
Part 27 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Using Windows Azure VMs to learn: Windows Server 2012 Storage
Part 28 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud – Introduction to Windows Azure Add-Ons from the Windows Azure Store
Part 29 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Using Windows Azure VMs to learn: Networking Basics (DHCP, DNS)
Part 30 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Using Windows Azure VMs to learn: RDS
Part 31 – 31 Days of Servers in the Cloud - Our favorite other resources (Links to How-Tos, Guides, Training Resources)
As you can see, we still have 8 more posts to make in the series so check back each day to see what we have added!
I recently interviewed Principal Security Architect Man Nguyen for TechNet radio to discuss how Microsoft IT created a process to track, manage and report PCI compliance at Microsoft. This was performed by leveraging System Center, Windows Server and SQL Server solutions. Tune in as we discuss ways in which his team is supporting PCI requirements as well as best practices and future integration plans using Windows Azure.
After watching this video, follow these next steps:
Step #1 – Download Windows Server 2012 Step #2 – Download Your FREE Copy of Hyper-V Server 2012 Step #3 – Start Your Free 90 Day Trial of Windows Azure
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In an effort to re-connect with the community after the holidays and kick off 2013 properly, I am setting up some new Office Hours. I will post these office hours weekly on Friday for the following week. The Office Hours will generally be in the morning, usually a 2-3 hour window starting no earlier than 9am. They will also start out mostly at the Microsoft Lincoln Square office in downtown Bellevue, but I am happy to meet with folks at any location convenient for them on request.
Sorry for the short notice on this week, but here is the schedule -
Thursday January 10th 10:30a to 12:30p Lincoln Square – Bellevue Friday January 10th 9:00a to 12:00n Lincoln Square – Bellevue
For next week I will start out at Lincoln Square unless I have a request to meet elsewhere
Monday January 14th 9:00a to 12:00n Lincoln Square – Bellevue Tuesday January 15th 9:00a to 12:00n Lincoln Square – Bellevue Wednesday January 16th 9:00a to 12:00n Lincoln Square – Bellevue Thursday January 17th 9:00a to 11:00 Lincoln Square – Bellevue Friday January 18th 9:00a to 12:00n Lincoln Square – Bellevue
Feel free to email me to set something up
-or-
Hit me up on Twitter! – @chrisavis
Give me a call! – (425) 647-3440
Hello Folks!
I am sure many of you know the name Harry Brelsford and of his SMB Nation Community. Well, Harry and friends have recently announced the opening of Cloud Nation to service the needs of VAR’s, businesses, and other technology providers in getting on board with and leveraging cloud related technologies. Not only are they providing services for you to sell, but also help in getting industry standard certifications to help you prove to your customers that you are the expert that you are.
What I love about the site is that when you first go to CloudNation.co, you are asked if you are an IT Pro (you install, secure, maintain solutions) or a Business Person (decision maker or looking for business value).
I just signed up on the IT Pro side of things and I now have access to a Windows desktop, Office 2010 Professional, and more from any machine I am on. Essentially a package of applications exposed through a Windows desktop, all of which resides in the cloud and can be access from any machine anywhere you are. Makes for a great remote workspace and is an excellent starting point for you to customize and make more available to your customers.
If you would like to learn more about what the CloudNation.co portal can do for you and your customers, checkout the whitepaper they have published at - http://secure.cloudnation.co/whitepaper/
If you have some downtime over the holidays and you want to show off mad programming skillz (or build them up!), check out the Windows 8 App Challenge. The App challenge gives you all the tools you need to get started building a Windows 8 App. The Generation App challenge leads anyone who wants to build even their first app though 30 day course. Step by step guidance starting with downloading the tools, to sample code and technical resources, even 1-1 time with design and technical consultant, all the way to publishing your app. It really can’t get much simpler than that. And you can even get $100 just for doing it.
I am signing up right now. You can follow my twitter feed @FeelGoodPros for status updates.
-Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Hello Salt Lake City! Thank you all for you time and patience today during the Hand On Lab section of the day. I can’t express how sorry I am that we did not have the correct manuals on site. As promised, here is a link to my SkyDrive that includes all of the slides as well as soft copies of all of the labs.
Here is the important part – The labs build on each other. You should do this in this order -
Hyper-V Getting Started
Continuously Available File Shares
Hyper-V Over SMB
Storage
Slides for the day are at the same link!
SkyDrive Link
With the recent release of Windows 8, I have started getting lots of questions about “What’s New”. For IT Admins, one of the questions revolves around command and control of the Windows 8 devices that thy will be placing on their networks. Group Policy is the primary means by which we effect control over client machines and this is no different with Windows 8. I spent some time rounding up some resources for managing Windows 8 clients as well as using Windows 8 as an administrative workstation. Links and descriptions below -
What’s New in Group Policy for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8
This article starts with a table of New and Changed Functionality. Of particular importance is the information on Local Group Policy for Windows RT machines as you will start seeing these come into your networks now. There are also new Group Policy Settings and Group Policy Preferences for Internet Explorer 10 that everyone should be aware of.
Group Policy Overview for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8
Next up, I recommend everyone take a look at the Group Policy Overview for Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8. This is a great all up overview of Group Policy. You should bookmark this page as there are some pieces that have not been completed and posted yet. You should re-visit this page weekly to check for updates.
Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows
This set of spreadsheets is a huge time saver when looking for Group Policy items. There are literally thousands of Group Policy settings that can be applied to machines and users and these spreadsheets help make sense of it all. This link provides downloads for the reference sheets for Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and of course, Windows 8.
Article on “Group Policy Update”
One particularly exciting (and long overdue!) piece of functionality is the new Group Policy Update feature. This feature gives IT Admins the ability to forcibly refresh Group Policy on a client machine. A usage scenario would be making a firewall change to clients that needs to be implemented immediately to mitigate a threat. Group Policy Update now gives admins the ability to effect these changes rapidly to ensure policy meets internal standards as soon as possible. This excellent article by Alan Burchill explains in great detail how to implement this new feature.
Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 8
Best practices dictate that we don’t sit logged into our server directly. Besides, most of our servers are virtualized these days so it is actually not always possible to sit directly at a server any longer. The Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) install to a Windows client machine and provide the necessary consoles and functionality to do administrative tasks. Everything from Active Directory Users and Computers to Server Manager can be used with these tools. Now refreshed to support Windows 8 clients.
Windows Security Survival Guide
Computer security is a game of leap frog – the bad guys find flaw and exploit it, the good guys identify the flaw and patch it. This cycle is never ending and should always be at the forefront of any IT Admins daily activities. With the release of a new Windows Server and a new Windows Client, I felt it prudent to remind everyone that there are new tools for admins and there will inevitably be new exploits. This security guide is a reminder of best practices and may even bring to light some things you can add to your arsenal in the constant battle with the bad guys.
Our next monthly meeting is scheduled for, Wednesday, November 7, 2012 at Lincoln Square Center in Bellevue at 6:00PM. You don’t want to miss this meeting. Five lucky attendees will go home with a copy of Windows 8 Professional. It’s perfect time to invite your colleagues to join the user group.
Session Details Our guest speaker is none other than Stephen Rose of Microsoft. Stephen is a Senior Product Manager for Windows Commercial team. The topic of his presentation is "Windows 8 for IT Pros." Are you wondering if Windows 8 has place in your corporate environment? What features should IT Pros consider before making decisions on what is right for them? Come join us at our next monthly meeting to find answers to these questions and more.
Stephen is a Sr. Product and Worldwide IT Pro Community Manager for Windows Commercial team. Before joining Microsoft, Stephen spent 15 years running his own IT consulting company. In his current role, he manages the Window technical content on the Springboard Series on TechNet, he oversees the Windows 7 and 8 Forums, is the editor for the Springboard Insider Newsletter, writes for Windows Team Blog, acts as the moderator for the Windows Virtual Roundtables and leads Springboard Series Tours in North and South America, as well as Europe and Asia.
Windows 8 Giveaway We will be giving away five copies of Windows 8 Professional at the meeting. The lucky winners will be announced after the drawing at the end of the meeting. For rules and details please visit this page on our Web site.
New Members If you are a new member, directions to the Lincoln Center are available on our Web site, or you can click here. Meeting agenda and other details are available in the Announcements link. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
RSVP Please make sure that you RSVP so we can plan for the meeting accordingly and your name is entered in the drawing.
We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Zubair Alexander SITPUG Coordinator Seattle IT Pro User Group
www.sitpug.com
Hiya Folks! For several years I have been sponsoring the Windows Networking User Group (WNUG) that meets on the first Wednesday of every month over at Lincoln Square in Bellevue. Recently, Zubair Alexander, the founder and leader of the UG, made a change to the name of the user group. here is the notification that he sent out -
Based on your feedback and to better represent our user group, we have changed our name from Seattle Windows Networking User Group (WNUG) to Seattle IT Pro User Group (SITPUG). We will continue to meet at our current meeting location in Lincoln Square Center on the first Wednesday of each month from 6pm-8pm. We are re-launching the user group under our new name starting November’s monthly meeting. We plan to invite several well-known speakers in the IT Pro community in the coming months, including Microsoft MVPs, on various topics that interest you. SITPUG is now on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Please follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook and LinkedIn. We want to encourage new sponsors and you can help by joining SITPUG on these social networking sites. Your participation is key to the success of our user group. Please update your bookmarks/favorites in your browser to point to www.sitpug.com. The old URL will redirect you to the new Web site. I will be sending out the announcement for our November meeting shortly and I am looking forward to seeing you on November 7. Zubair Alexander SITPUG Coordinator Seattle IT Pro User Group www.sitpug.com
Based on your feedback and to better represent our user group, we have changed our name from Seattle Windows Networking User Group (WNUG) to Seattle IT Pro User Group (SITPUG). We will continue to meet at our current meeting location in Lincoln Square Center on the first Wednesday of each month from 6pm-8pm.
We are re-launching the user group under our new name starting November’s monthly meeting. We plan to invite several well-known speakers in the IT Pro community in the coming months, including Microsoft MVPs, on various topics that interest you.
SITPUG is now on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Please follow us on Twitter and join us on Facebook and LinkedIn. We want to encourage new sponsors and you can help by joining SITPUG on these social networking sites. Your participation is key to the success of our user group.
Please update your bookmarks/favorites in your browser to point to www.sitpug.com. The old URL will redirect you to the new Web site.
I will be sending out the announcement for our November meeting shortly and I am looking forward to seeing you on November 7.